The Zhan Group’s business was stable, and he had many brothers, every one of them talented, able to share a considerable amount of his workload so that it did not leave him gasping for breath.
After marriage, he rarely left early and returned late. In the past, his health had suffered minor problems from the heavy workload, immense pressure, frequent late nights, and too many drinking engagements.
Later, with fewer early departures and late returns, fewer social obligations and all-night sessions, and his wife keeping a close eye on his three meals a day, those small ailments were gradually nursed back to health.
“Wife, let’s go to bed early and get some restorative sleep.”
Zhan Yin said softly.
If they kept talking, he worried his wife would grow upset remembering her parents who had passed away too soon.
Haitong gave a soft hum of agreement in his arms.
“By the way, how are Eighth Brother and Doctor Zeng getting on?”
Zhan Yin asked, successfully shifting his wife’s attention.
“Doctor Zeng hasn’t fallen for him yet. Eighth says he’s boiling the frog slowly, starting with companionship, waiting until Doctor Wen is more comfortable with him before confessing.”
“Grandma is anxious. She wishes Eighth would marry Doctor Zeng tomorrow. That rival of Eighth’s still hasn’t given up either.”
Zhan Yin gave an “oh” and smiled. “It’s normal for Grandma to be anxious. All she wants is for all nine of us brothers to marry and settle down. Seventh is about to get married now, Eighth has someone he likes but hasn’t won her yet. Of course Grandma is going to worry.”
“Once Eighth and Doctor Zeng are settled, Grandma will turn her attention to Ninth. But Ninth is still a bit young, his personality rather playful. A few more years yet.”
In the eyes of his brothers, Ninth was still a child.
No one would rush him into marriage.
Haitong said, “Ninth’s age would already be considered marriageable back in my hometown. Still, there’s no hurry. Let him enjoy himself for a few more years. When he was studying, the pressure on him was the greatest.”
“He hasn’t achieved anything major yet, so the pressure is still huge. We can wait until he’s more mature and settled before urging him to marry.”
The cousins in Haitong’s hometown usually married at twenty-four or twenty-five, around Ninth’s age.
She did not have much contact with the uncles and aunts back home, but because her grandparents still lived in the house her parents had built, she and her sister inevitably had to deal with those troublesome relatives.
After her sister took over the Feng family in Jiangcheng, the old Hai family treated the sisters with great respect.
Before Hailing became head of the Feng family, the old Hai relatives had only tolerated the sisters out of fear of Zhan Yin’s power and influence. In their hearts, they believed the sisters had simply been extraordinarily lucky to marry into wealth, and they resented it.
Only when they learned that the third brother’s wife they had bullied was actually a descendant of the Jiangcheng Feng family, and saw the sisters growing ever more commanding, did their attitude truly change.
Old Mr Hai was still alive and continued to live in the house left by Haitong’s parents.
Her uncles paid rent to him each month, and that money was used for his living expenses.
Old Mrs Hai had died of cancer years earlier, in the year Haitong became pregnant with Beibei. Because she was pregnant, Haitong had not returned home for the funeral. Given how heartless her grandparents had been to the sisters, no one would have blamed her for staying away.
Still, for their father’s sake, the sisters had sent money to help cover the funeral arrangements.
Haitong felt that she and her sister had done all that duty required towards the two elders.
“We brothers don’t feel we’ve put any pressure on Ninth. He’s the youngest. We’re all very lenient with him, we all dote on him.”
Recalling his own attitude towards Ninth, Zhan Yin did not think he had added any pressure.
Haitong told him, “When I first married into the family, Ninth was still in senior school. You never openly pressured him, but every gift you gave him was another set of exam papers.”
“Wasn’t that pressure? And with eight older brothers as outstanding as you all are, even if you said nothing, he felt the weight. If he fell even slightly short, people compared him to you.”
“That kind of invisible pressure surrounded Ninth constantly. Even now that he’s out in the world, as soon as people know he’s the ninth young master of the Zhan family, they can’t help comparing him to the rest of you.”
